Goodbye, Jeb
by Flying Sideways
Summary: It is time for Jeb to leave the flock, and he's sneaking out around midnight. But on his way out he runs into Fang and Nudge. No pairings, but I think it's actually pretty good. Fang might be a little ooc, but yeah... Please R&R! Pleeeease?


**(A/N): I've had this idea for a while now. Originally it was going to be Fang and Angel but I decided I wanted it to be Nudge instead. I am literally begging for reviews, even if you pull a Fang and just use one word.**

Jeb's POV

My alarm clock went off at midnight. I don't know why I thought I'd need to set it. There hadn't been any real chance of me getting to sleep that night.

I slid out of bed and got dressed. As I was walking out of my room I realized that I was practically hyperventalating. It was amazing how little effect two years of planninghad on my nervousness. And my fear. And my guilt.

I stopped in the living room. The walls were covered with pictures of the children.

One of Max and Fang sitting on the deck and smiling. One of Iggy and Angel on the couch, him sitting on the end, elbow on the armrest and chin in his hand, her lying down with her head in his lap, holding one of her dolls and looking up at him. One of Fang, Nudge, and Gazzy lying on their stomachs on the floor, playing Scrabble. One of Gazzy pulling a wagon, which Angel was sitting in.

I know I shouldn't have, but I decided to take one. I started to go for the one with all seven of us, but I hesitated. Suddenly, I picked up the one with just the six kids.

It was a recent picture, taken about a month ago. The three older kids were standing in a row, with Max in the middle, Fang on her left, and Iggy on her right. Max was holding Angel, Gazzy was on Iggy's back, and Nudge was standing in front of Fang, his hans on her shoulders. Their wings were tucked in, and they just looked like normal, happy children. I tucked it into my pocket.

Sighing, I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair.

"No," I thought, "That's not my chair anymore."

I began putting on my jacket, and then I heard a noise in the hallway.

I froze. _Crap!_

I listened harder. I heard tiny, quiet footsteps. A second later they were joined by whispered voices.

"I promise you, Nudge, there's nothing out here."

Fang.

"I know I heard something! There could be someone breaking in! They could be theives! Or murderers! Or kidna-"

"Nudge, we live in a secluded house in the middle of the Colorado mountains! Who's gonna be breaking in?"

I heard them shuffle into the kitchen, and Fang turned on a light.

He looked unsurprised to see me, his face calm, cool, and collected. Nudge was peeking out from behind him, twisting her tan hands in her long, light purple nightshirt. She jumped when she first saw me, but smiled when she realized who it was.

She turned to Fang. "See, I told ya."

He ignored her. "Are you going somewhere?"

"No, I lied, thinking fast "I, um, just got back from a walk."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "At" (he checked the clock) "12:10 AM?"

"Yeah, I, uh, couldn't sleep."

He nodded. "Well, Nudge heard you come in. And decided to wake me up. At 12:10 AM."

"I was scared!" she defended. Hanging her head, she mumbled "I thought the white coats were here to take us back to the School."

"Jeb wouldn't let that happen. Would you Jeb?" Fang said.

He knew. There was something about the way he said it, something about the way he was looking at me. I don't know how he knew, but he knew.

"No," I said hoarsely "I wouldn't."

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

I don't know why it hit me then, that these where the last minutes I'd ever spend with the children while they still fully trusted me.

"Do you want a drink of water before you go back to bed, Nudge?" I asked.

"Yes, please!" She looked so happy. So cute.

I took out her favorite cup, a tall lime green one. "You want anything, Fang?"

"I'm good, thanks," he muttered, not looking at me. He helped Nudge get on to the counter, where she liked to sit. Usually I told her to get down, to eat at the table. Tonight I didn't comment on it.

She chattered happily while she drank, and Fang and I added in our "Yeah"s and "I don't know, Nudge"s, neither of us really listening.

As she was going on, I noticed Fang grab a pen and a notepad and jot something down. He waited until he thought I wasn't looking, then tore off the page he'd written on, folded it, wrote somethong on the outside, and stuck the note in my jacket pocket.

Nudge yawned and stretched. "Well, I'm going back to bed. 'Night, guys."

We both said our goodnights and she walked off towards her room. Being nine years old, she'd completely forgotten about her cup after she'd set it down. Fang picked it up and brought to the sink. His face was as expressionless as ever, but I saw the way his knuckles went white from holding the cup so tightly, noticed the angry way he dumped out the remaining water. He all but slammed the cup into the sink.

"You should, uh, probably be more quiet. You'll wake Iggy up. And, uh, Nudge again," I muttered to fill the awkward silence.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." We were refusing to meet each other's eyes. "I'm tired," he said finally.

"Um, alright then. Goodnight, Fang."

When he looked up at me, his normally closed off face was an open book. A very sad book, too. "Goodbye, Jeb."

And then he left, leaving his last words ringing in my ears.

Numbly, I put on my jacket and walked out the door. It wasn't until I was halfway across the yard that I remembered the note. I pulled it out of my pocket. On the front it said "Do not open for 10 years". I shrugged to myself and put it back.

We lived far away from any sort of civilization; it was daylight when I reached the nearest town. My plan was to eat in the town's diner, then hotwire a car to drive to California in.

The diner was crowded, despite the fact that it was a very small town. I ordered coffee and some pancakes.

Fang's note was burning a hole in my pocket. I tried to focus on breakfast, but it stuck firmly in my mind. Finally, curiousity took over me and I opened it.

"_Dear Jeb,_

_In case you forgot, I'm writing this on the night that you left. Yes, Jeb, I know you're leaving. Still, it's hard to imagine what it will be like tommorow, without you there, with Max and the others so worried. I do not plan on telling them about tonight, and as for Nudge, she'll probably forget it ever happened._

_You know, once I stop being so mad at you, I'll probably feel sorry for you. You won't get to see us grow up. You won't be there for Max's sixteenth birthday. You won't be around when Angel loses her first tooth. And of course, leaving means pemanently turning off the Nudge Channel._

_So, as I said that night, goodbye, Jeb._

_-Fang"_

I stuffed the note in my pocket with the picture. But first I folded it back up so I could pretend that I never even read it in the first place.


End file.
